


The Space Between (A Rock and A Hard Place)

by darlingdarkiplier



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Mal (Disney), Drama, F/F, F/M, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Jay/Carlos Slow Burn, Lesbian Evie (Disney), Love Potion/Spell, Love Triangles, Minor Jay/Carlos de Vil, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 00:55:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20201050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingdarkiplier/pseuds/darlingdarkiplier
Summary: Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay have spent their whole lives on the Isle Of The Lost. It wasn’t much, but they got by, and Mal and Evie had been happily in love for a year now. When the four get picked to leave the Isle Of The Lost and move to Auradon and are set up by their parents to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand, Mal is forced to spell Prince Ben into falling in love with her in the process of the plan. When Ben falls in love with Mal for real, it leaves Evie and Mal with one question: what happens to their relationship?





	The Space Between (A Rock and A Hard Place)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! I just wanted to do a quick note before getting into this story to say that some things in the plot will be (or similar to) what happened in the movies. (For example the VK’s moving to Auradon, the plan to steal the wand, etc.) The plot will be a mix of my own twist on the characters and plot I think of myself and things that actually did happen in the series, just putting that out there. Thanks for reading!

**MAL WAS NOT HAPPY. **A letter sent right from the Prince of Auradon had been delivered to her, informing her that she had been chosen along with three friends to leave the Isle of The Lost and start attending Auradon Prep. She sighed and lay back on her bed, staring at the spray painted walls. 

If there was one thing she didn’t want to do, it was go there. She would never fit in with those kids, the kids of the very people her parents and her friends’ parents had most likely tried to murder, curse, poison, lock away, or if you were Mal’s mom, send into a deep sleep from one simple prick of the finger. 

She _liked _the Isle. Sure, it was run down and had a lot of things wrong with it. The people were poor, everyone stole from everyone else, Uma was always out to get her, and she didn’t have much, but it was somehow oddly comforting to her. She had Carlos and Jay, she had Lady Tremaine’s hair salon where she’d let Drizella’s daughter experiment on her hair. She had walls to spray paint and people to laugh with (and at). And most of all, she had Evie. The Isle was home. 

She wanted to say no, that she would be just fine staying here. They couldn’t _make _her go, could they? Then again if the Auradon guards didn’t make her, her mother sure as hell would. She was considering running away, although there wasn’t much place to run to. She thought about going into hiding but she would definitely end up being found. She was deep in thought about the whole situation when she heard a high pitched squeal that she would recognize anywhere. Evie had gotten the news. 

The blue-haired daughter of the Evil Queen burst into her girlfriend’s room, the biggest smile Mal had ever seen plastered across her face. Mal had to admit, as much as she hated the idea of going to Auradon, it was nice to see Evie so happy. 

“Mal, did you get the letter?” Evie beamed. Mal nodded and vaguely pointed to the direction of her nightstand, where her copy of the royal invitation sat. She had thought about ripping it up but was now glad she hadn’t, seeing how happy this was making Evie. 

“We get to go to Auradon! Oh my gosh, this is a dream come true! I get to be a real princess! I’m so excited!” Mal looked at Evie with sad eyes, not having the heart to crush her spirits with her own distaste of the situation. 

“You don’t seem excited.” Evie noted, sitting on the bed next to where Mal was laying, her smile slowly fading. Mal met her girlfriend’s eyes. She couldn’t lie to Evie. She loved her too much; they had gotten together last year after a whole lifetime of friendship and years of teasing from Carlos and Jay, who had placed bets with each other on how long it would take for them to finally get together. Mal had been falling hard ever since. She stayed silent for a moment before answering. 

“To be honest, I’m not really excited, E. I don’t want to leave the Isle. It has a lot of screwed up things about it but it’s home, and I’ll miss it.” Evie smiled sympathetically and brushed Mal’s hair away from her face. 

“I don’t think we’ll have much of a choice, M.” Evie said. Mal groaned, even though she knew she was right.

“But think of all the good things we’ll have if we do stay in Auradon. We’ll have so many opportunities, more than we’d ever have here. We’ll get good education, better shelter, better food, better clothes, we can do something about all the other kids who are staying here, we’ll have better lives. And.....we could finally be ourselves.” Mal looked up at Evie again. She hadn’t even thought of that last part. 

Mal and Evie didn’t dare tell their parents about their relationship. Maleficent wasn’t exactly the most understanding of love; she’d call Mal weak and punish her, encourage her to be better (and by better, she’d mean worse) than this. The Evil Queen wasn’t much better. She wanted Evie to find someone, sure. But only if that someone was a prince with a big castle, plenty of money and “lots and lots of mirrors”. She wanted Evie to have the stereotypical happily ever after being a house princess to some prince charming. So Evie and Mal kept quiet. 

But if they were in Auradon, away from their parents....it wouldn’t matter. They could be as open as they wanted and finally be free. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Okay, maybe you do have a point about that.” Mal admitted. Evie smiled and leaned down to press a soft kiss on Mal’s cheek. 

“C’mon, let’s go talk to Jay and Carlos about it. Then we’ll have to tell our parents.” Mal dreaded the second part but chose to focus on one thing at a time. She let Evie pull her up off the bed and they went off together, leaving Mal’s room through the window and heading down the streets of the Isle. 

In another part of the Isle, Carlos and Jay had just read their own letters. 

“Auradon? Why us? Do we _have _to go? They have dogs in Auradon and Mom says-“ 

“Carlos! Calm down!” Jay interrupted before Carlos could start fully freaking out. Carlos mumbled an apology and started reading over his letter again. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He was a little excited but mostly incredibly nervous. 

Jay on the other hand, was looking forward to it. Being a thief on the Isle was tough, not only because the people there knew to be on the look out, but also because there wasn’t many things of value to steal. Magic items don’t work on the Isle, and it’s not like anyone there was rich. Auradon, though, would be sure to have plenty of cool and valuable trinkets around, and Jay fully planned on cashing in. 

“I don’t know why you’re so excited. Not like they won’t throw us right back in here at the first sign of trouble, and they’re a lot more strict about enforcing their rules there.” Carlos said. 

“That’s only if I get caught.” Jay replied. Carlos didn’t see how he wouldn’t; Jay was a good thief, but he had also been on the Isle his whole life, where the Auradon guards weren’t around. He wasn’t sure if the son of Jafar could make it without getting into trouble. 

“Just be careful when we get there, Jay. It won’t be like the Isle, and I....I don’t want to see you getting into serious trouble.” Carlos said. Jay looked at him, almost rolling his eyes and making some sarcastic comment, but saw the genuine worry in the white haired boy’s eyes. 

“I...I will, Carlos. I promise. We’ll be alright.” Carlos nodded, some newfound comfort coming from Jay’s promise. 

“Did you losers get the news?” The voice of the daughter of Maleficent traveled down the street, she and Evie walking towards where Jay and Carlos were hanging out outside of an abandoned shop. Jay laughed as the four exchanged greetings, happy that he wouldn’t have to soothe Carlos’ worries alone. He knew for sure Evie would be beyond excited, and he was right. She was smiling from ear to ear. 

“We get to go to Auradon!” Evie practically squealed, still clutching her letter as if her life depended on it. 

“I’m sure your mom would have a fit if she saw you smiling so wide, Evie. Wrinkles!” Jay exclaimed, doing his best impression of the Evil Queen on the last sentence. Evie playfully smacked him on the arm. 

“What about you? Are you happy about this?” Carlos asked Mal. She sighed. 

“I’m not....thrilled, but I don’t think I have much of a choice. Even if I could opt out, I’m sure my mother would definitely make me go. She’s probably cooking up some evil scheme for me to do on her behalf, no doubt. And besides...it could be good for Evie and I.” She let a small smile creep onto her face as she grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. Jay made a fake vomiting sound and the group erupted in laughter, shoving each other around and yelling. 

“I guess we have to tell our parents now.” Carlos said, looking at the others expectantly. He was the most worried out of the four. He, like Mal, liked the Isle and found it oddly comforting. It was where he grew up, and as much of a pain as his mom was, he had to admit he’d miss Cruella. 

The four made their way to Mal’s house, where Maleficent and the others’ parents were waiting. 

“I take it you’ve all heard the news.” Mal said upon entering. 

“Where have you been? This is the opportunity of a lifetime to finally get our revenge and you’re not here?” Maleficent said. 

“I’ll take that as a yes. It’s good to see you, too, Mom.” Maleficent ignored Mal’s comment and gathered the others around. 

“Mal, dear, you and your friends are going to have a very important job during your stay in Auradon.” Mal groaned.

“Here we go...” She mumbled.

“Fairy Godmother’s wand is somewhere in Auradon. Find it, and use it to bring down the barrier. Then we will all be free to finally get our revenge.” 

“That sounds dangerous, what if we get caught?” Carlos spoke up. Maleficent turned to him. Carlos immediately regretted saying anything. 

“That’s not my problem, now is it? If you can’t do something as simple as grabbing a wand then-“ 

“Cut him some slack, okay? He’s just nervous about leaving home.” Jay said. Carlos looked at him in shock. Almost no one, except Mal, ever stood up to Maleficent. He was surprised Jay had the nerve. He fully expected her to kill him right then and there, but to his surprise again she ignored him and turned back to Mal, telling them more about the wand and the plan. 

All the kids went to pack up their things, Evie following Mal to her room so they could pack together. Evie made sure to fold her things neatly and organize them in her bag while Mal on the other hand just threw things into hers. 

“What if we just.....what if we just ran off together, E? There aren’t many places to hide here but we could wait until we got to Auradon. After the guards or whoever gets us settled in we could just sneak out and make a run for it. Say fuck out parents and their plans and settle down somewhere just the two of us.” Evie smiled sympathetically. 

“I don’t think that’s an option, Mal. Two villain kids go missing as soon as they arrive to Auradon? They’d have every guard on the lookout, and we’d probably be sent right back here when they found us. Without the wand, on top of that, so we’d come home to face our parents.” Once again, as much as Mal hated to admit it, Evie was right. 

“There’s really no way out of this, huh?” 

“I don’t think so, no. But let’s make the best of it while we’re there. There are still chances for good things to happen.” 

A few hours later, it was getting time to leave. Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella all prepared their children for their travels to Auradon, making sure they had their things and giving them a couple magic items that would work there and help them in their scheme. The guards arrived soon after to collect them, so the parents said their goodbyes to their children. 

The whole ride there, Evie raved and rambled about how pretty everything was. It almost made Mal happy about being there. Almost. 

The four arrived at Auradon Prep and got settled into their dorms after an awkward encounter with Prince Ben and Princess Audrey (what was Mal supposed to say to her? ‘Sorry my mom cursed your mom?’). Mal hadn’t paid them much attention. She doubted she’d be talking to them much. 

“These dorms are so beautiful, I could stay in here forever.” Evie laid back on her bed. 

“If by ‘beautiful’, you mean ‘obnoxious’, then sure. And don’t get too comfy, E. I know you love it but we’re just here to get the wand. Then who knows what it’ll be like once our parents take over.” 

“Yeah, I know....but maybe we have time for a date tomorrow before we get started on the whole evil scheme to steal the wand thing?” Evie smiled up at Mal. A real date. They had gone on secret ones on the Isle, if they could even count as dates with how run down everything was there. This would be their first date in a nicer environment, and their first one that didn’t need to be kept secret. Mal smiled back. 

“I guess it can wait one day. You know I can’t say no to you.” Evie beamed even wider. 

“It’s a date, then?” 

“It’s a date.” 


End file.
